Auto-Renew Confusion

[TheScouterDude]

My understanding is that going forward, annual individual renewals will be done through national. They will auto-charge the credit card on file for each individual membership unless the individual opts out (assuming that their primary unit has not opted out of this feature entirely and collects dues themselves). What is not clear to me is what exactly is collected through national. Obviously the national membership fee, and I presume Scouts' Life (if a subscriber) and maybe council fees too. But what about pack/troop/crew/ship fees? Are the individual units on their own to collect those, even if everything else is being paid through national? Or is there some way for the individual unit to tell national's system how much the unit fee is?

I'm a (new) unit treasurer trying to make sure we are prepared for this change, so this is a pragmatic and time-sensitive question for me. We're about to do a spring join night, and we will be getting at least one new member, so I need to make sure my unit is in agreement about the process going forward. With the new member fee going away April 1 in favor of a $5 increase for all scouts, my unit needs to revise our documents showing the breakdown of fees, and how the process works, to minimize confusion with parents.

Is the following correct (assuming we do not opt out of the new process entirely)?

• National membership, council membership/program fee, and Scouts' Life subscription (if a subscriber) are paid through national via credit card auto-pay annually.
• Unit (Pack/Troop/Crew/Ship) fees are paid directly to the unit.

Bonus points if anyone can point me to some documentation to pack up the answer (regarding how unit fees are paid) so I can be more prepared for committee questions!

[RememberSchiff]

@TheScouterDude welcome to scouter.com

[InquisitiveScouter]

9 hours ago, TheScouterDude said:

But what about pack/troop/crew/ship fees? Are the individual units on their own to collect those, even if everything else is being paid through national? Or is there some way for the individual unit to tell national's system how much the unit fee is?

1) National doesn't care

2) Yes, but I would love to wrong about this.

3) No, but I would love to wrong about this.

Edited March 3 by InquisitiveScouter

[SiouxRanger]

Never let anyone auto renew. Ever.

You lose control in that automatic charges will be incurred without notice, even if a scout has dropped out.

[TheScouterDude]

3 hours ago, SiouxRanger said:

Never let anyone auto renew. Ever.

You lose control in that automatic charges will be incurred without notice, even if a scout has dropped out.

My understanding, based on some council-provided information (not from my own council, which hasn't said anything to my knowledge) is that national will send emails to the scouts' parents 60, 30, 15, 7, and 1 day(s) before they are changed, and that each of those emails will contain an option to manually renew or opt-out. The auto-renew only occurs if they do not respond. I am not saying that I agree with this approach, but it also doesn't sound like it is without notice either.

On the other hand, if the unit opts-out of this new process, the unit is charged for the renewal on the anniversary date unless they manually remove the person first. That means the unit has to get paid 60 to 1 day(s) before the renewal date, or take a gamble and either drop the scout or pay for the renewal with the hope of the parents paying. Not digging that option. You might say "well if they are absent for 60 days, that's a good clue they won't be renewing," but for many cub scouts, their renewal date will be August 31 because most join through September join nights (or at least that's typical in my district). A lot of cub scouts drop off the radar for June-August. I could see this being a big problem.

From my perspective, both options have their drawbacks.

 

3 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

1) National doesn't care

2) Yes, but I would love to wrong about this.

3) No, but I would love to wrong about this.

Sounds like we agree that this is the most likely scenario. I just wish I could get a more definitive answer.

[SiouxRanger]

Well, with a series of notice, that gives "fair warning."

But as a plain old lawyer, my plain old clients pay just no attention…and things just "roll over."

[InquisitiveScouter]

11 hours ago, TheScouterDude said:

national will send emails to the scouts' parents 60, 30, 15, 7, and 1 day(s) before they are changed

This will quickly go to spam 😜

[BuffaloAnnie]

Update, please! It's been a few months. Is this happening the way everyone expected? I have unit leaders asking a lot of questions that I can't answer.

What notifications do Adult Leaders and Scouts receive when their memberships are about to auto renew?

What will happen to a registered leader with "Opted Out" on the roster under Renewal Status?

I'm concerned about the number of active youth members we're randomly finding with no parent/guardian connection. Will their memberships renew smoothly or will they just expire?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, everyone!

 

[MikeS72]

15 hours ago, BuffaloAnnie said:

Update, please! It's been a few months. Is this happening the way everyone expected? I have unit leaders asking a lot of questions that I can't answer.

What notifications do Adult Leaders and Scouts receive when their memberships are about to auto renew?

What will happen to a registered leader with "Opted Out" on the roster under Renewal Status?

I'm concerned about the number of active youth members we're randomly finding with no parent/guardian connection. Will their memberships renew smoothly or will they just expire?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, everyone!

 

I got an email on Friday titled Monthly Renewal Information with a list of everyone whose is scheduled to expire on August 31.  Those parents should have also received notification on Friday, and I will be contacting them individually to be sure they did receive it and to confirm their status for the upcoming pack year.